Thinking about bike safety

January 5, 2004

Dear Sir,

This is in response to the letter from Mr. Jack Gauntlett who is demanding that the Commissioner of Police have his officers take action against the riders of motor cycles and scooters who carry young children in front of the rider rather than behind them.

Mr. Gauntlett is obviously concerned about the safety of these children and that is understandable. He states that this practice is dangerous and that the lives of small children are at stake.

As an ex-Policeman with many years experience in the Police Traffic Department I have to question whether this really is a dangerous practice, albeit against the law, and whether it is more dangerous that carrying young children behind the rider.

My reason for questioning Mr. Gauntlett's assertion is that of the very few accidents involving young children being carried on motorcycles during my time in the Traffic Department, I do not remember a single case involving a child being carried in front of the rider.

In fact there were only a few accidents, and every single one occurred when young children were carried at the rear and had slipped to the side, often catching their feet in the rear wheels.

After one such case I inquired of a senior nurse at KEMH about how many children were being admitted as a result of being carried in front of the rider, and she could not remember any. I also cannot recall any serious accidents involving children ever being reported in the news, or any prosecutions in Court, where it has been alleged that the cause of an accident was attributed to a young child being carried in front of the rider.

Mr. Gauntlett is no doubt correct in stating that there are more children than ever being carried in this way. It is probably also true to say that many are carried by fairly young women who are either raising children as single parents, or who don't have the financial resources to buy a car.

May I suggest that before we demand the Commissioner of Police take any radical action to prevent children being carried in front of the riders, that some research be carried out to ascertain if we are having a significant number of young children injured in this way.

Yes, it is against the law, and yes, we need to protect young children, but if we endanger them even more by having them sit on the back of motor cycles as required under the existing law, then the law will be an ass and should be changed.

Perhaps the Road Safety Council could undertake such a study with assistance from the Police.

RETIRED POLICE OFFICER

Smith's Parish

Our deepest fear

February 5, 2004

Dear Sir,

Nelson Mandela, when making his inaugural speech in 1994, said: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

"It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small doesn't serve the world.

"There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel unsure around you.

"We were born to manifest the glory of God within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

"As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

NEVILLE T. DARRELL

Devonshire

Expats don't cause racism

February 4, 2004

Dear Sir,

On January 14, some comments by Dr. Eva Hodgson appeared in The Royal Gazette. Dr. Hodgson blamed increased racism on the influx of expatriates and said white people could, and should, reduce the problem of racism by joining the PLP.

In my view, racism occurs between individuals. If you state categorically that all expats are to blame and that the solution lies entirely with white people you are immediately a racist yourself.

In my view, to effectively combat racism it is pointless to accuse large groups of people. You would only do that if your true goal was to divide people into groups and goad those groups to fight. Instead you should go after individual racists and make examples of them.

Since the PLP has come to power, not one case of racism by one specific person against another specific person has been proven, as far as I know. Why has this approach never been energetically pursued if racism is so bad in Bermuda?

The expats who come to Bermuda today are the tourists of the 21st Century. They bring money onto the island. They are the central pillar of our economy. They do the jobs that Bermudians cannot, or will not, do. Dispense with the expats and a stagnant economy will spark increased racism, not to mention poverty.

Does agreeing with the PLP really reduce racism? Or is Dr. Hodgson using accusations of racism as a stick to beat white people into accepting PLP edicts?

The PLP, an entirely black party, has a long history of racist remarks. They rarely reach out to white people, Portuguese people or anyone who isn't black. This is done in the name of correcting the injustices black Bermudians face. So, anyone who is not black is excluded from government, whether that person is a racist or not.

It is conveniently forgotten that black Bermudians are among the most prosperous and free people in the world. And they got to that position while the UBP was in power, not the PLP.

To help combat racism, I think we Bermudians should look in the mirror and ask, "How many of my true problems are self-created?"

The answer should be about 90 percent, if Bermudians are like other first world citizens.

If we do that, we could then focus less on looking for large groups of people to be scapegoats and more time solving our real problems.

ANONYMOUS

Southampton